Yeah... ok. I guess I was pointlessly bitching that an immortal 'wiseass man on the mountain' had a poor will save.

I'll shut up now. Regarding this 'question.'

It was for the same reason monks generally received shitty PrCs and/or were actively nerfed at every opportunity: A lot of the designers remain utterly convinced to this day that the 3.5 monk is the most OP bullshit broken class in the entire game.

I think we will never know the answer to most of our questions about 3.5's design process. Just treat the Cloud Anchorite as a full BAB, all good saves, d12 hit die, 8+int skill points class: it won't break the game, and your player will appreciate it.

Or, if you are the player, ask your GM to do so, and if he says no, play a Cleric.